Well here are some results for the Vargas Stage III upgrade that has caused the N54 forum section to basically be engaged in chaos for the past few months. From accusations of vaporware, to comparison to single turbo upgrades, to countless other arguments the day has come and the Stage III Vargas Turbo upgrade dyno'd on 91 octane with no meth 572 horsepower to the rear wheels. This is with a Cobb flash tuned by BimmerBoost vendor Pro-Tuning Freaks.

Impressive? Yep, sure is and this seems to also be a 91 octane pump gas only world record for the N54. Now keep in mind this is just the beginning. What will it do with meth? What will do on E85? What will it do with race gas and big boost? What about different turbos? Sky appears to be the limit but for now this kind of performance on pump gas sure is a big boost (hah, get it?) to the N54 scene.

Congratulations to all involved, Vargas Turbo Tech, Pro-Tuning Freaks, Cobb, and just the N54 community as well. The impossible just became possible. Pictures, video, and dynograph below.

Very impressive for preliminary quick and dirty e-tuning! Bless that HPFP to keep on putting along haha. Seems like this will result in ~600whp range and faster spool after they work out the kinks and tune a bit further. And if dzenno has already hit around 650wtq with RB's i wouldn't be surprised to be ripping 700+wtq with E85 and/or meth! Now someone point out a more luxurious and faster car in the same price range as an N54 build!
15k or less for a used N54 car
FBO thru the classifieds for around 2k
LSD, SMFW, Clutch 3-4k
M3 bits and suspension 2-3k
lets say a wide 5-10k for turbos and misc.
extra few k for maintenance.
M3 eater for 30-35k!

Very impressive for preliminary quick and dirty e-tuning! Bless that HPFP to keep on putting along haha. Seems like this will result in ~600whp range and faster spool after they work out the kinks and tune a bit further. And if dzenno has already hit around 650wtq with RB's i wouldn't be surprised to be ripping 700+wtq with E85 and/or meth! Now someone point out a more luxurious and faster car in the same price range as an N54 build!
15k or less for a used N54 car
FBO thru the classifieds for around 2k
LSD, SMFW, Clutch 3-4k
M3 bits and suspension 2-3k
lets say a wide 5-10k for turbos and misc.
extra few k for maintenance.
M3 eater for 30-35k!

Except nobody wants to pay for a 15k 335i. All the ones that interest me anyway start around 25k-30k although I'm looking for a vert. But if you just want the platform regardless of miles or options, then I suppose you could find one in reasonable shape for around 17-20.

Hey guys, we are completely stoked with these results on such poor quality 91 octane. In terms of boost this was 24-25psi with an ultra conservative to low timing curve at full load.

As mentioned before, our tuning approach with this kit is to get the most power under the curve out of this setup for any given octane level. Therefore we're not being shy with boost but we are certainly shy with timing on this ACN 91 octane.

Below is the RPM graph to see...

Originally Posted by govr46

Big thanks to my brother Tony for all the hard work and money he has put into this project for the N54 community.
Another big thanks to Dzenno for all the late night tuning sessions he has done with Tony to get the car were it is now.
Can't wait for the kit to be produced so i can finally have my car back after six months.

I want that kit off your car and in production asap! Really appreciate everything you've done so far to make this project happen. I'm super jealous you get to drive it now and I don't

Originally Posted by Terry@BMS

Nice! Really unbelievable for our 91 octane.

Told you there's some surprises here

Originally Posted by benzy89

HOLY HORSEPOWER!!!! This will prob crush 600 WHP on 93 octane, def cannot wait to see Race Gas/E85 numbers. Just to get an idea for the gains, do you have a stock baseline for this car (or another N54 MT 335) on the same dyno?

We're really looking forward to higher octane runs too!!

Originally Posted by Turkeybaster115

Great Job!! Would love to see OTS 93/100 octane maps & dynos for this. Also some street videos would be fun to see!

Cobb OTS maps won't work on this kit. Boost control and all other related tables in the DME required a significant amount of work and attention. I am really glad though that we've pulled this off right through the DME without requiring help from external devices.

Originally Posted by ajm8127

That's awesome man. Great work! I like how you say you are gong to do something, and you do exactly that.

He sure did.

Originally Posted by sahyoun

The sound in the video doesnt do the sound justice this thing sounded simply phenomenal. What a beast. Awesome work tony

Wish I was there to hear it

Originally Posted by themyst

Holy $#@! look at that powerband. Awesome job

Thank you

Originally Posted by XLG1@HBE

Do you think I can run the stage 3 setup with my auto n54 or would the trans not hold up?

Until tested very hard to say with any level of certainty. At the least I'd assume you'd need an Alpina TCU flash but as of right now a 6MT with a solid clutch will certainly put the power down no problem.

Originally Posted by 654

Well done guys. The figures are right there where they should be. GTX2863R that I suggested is the twin upgrade to go for max twin whp. It will be >800 whp with e85+meth. The flights are booked so we should see that quickly enough Good to see the spool & power as expected.

I am glad we've met your expectations and didn't disappoint on the first try

We literally had time to just do 3 revisions of this e-tuned setup on the dyno and see the curves. We'll have updates coming as we push and refine things further. There's lots to do especially when you're doing it from right inside the DME.

Couple key things we noticed on the fuel end. Going past this power level causes HPFP fuel pressure to start to drop. We've logged both LPFP Actual and HPFP Actual on multiple runs. With Tony's parallel LPFP setup in the tank (OEM+Walbro) the LPFP Actual pressure is staying on target (and slightly above actually) without dropouts. However, HPFP Actual pressure was nosediving. This is why we stopped at the power levels on we did with ACN 91 octane, not because of any knock/timing corrections which still blows my mind!

We'll see if this can be addressed in any way to try to push on further with just gas flowing from where it should, the fuel tank and DI fuel injectors

It's amazing how much better this power curve looks compared to the FFTEC single curve... Do you have a plot of boost vs. RPM?

PS. On the fuel pressure, you can either lean it out (can't see AFR curve in chart but might not be a good idea), or another option is to swap out the factory regulator and crank the pressure up to 80-90psi. Which should force more fuel through the small opening at the high pressure pump and allow it to support more power.

It's amazing how much better this power curve looks compared to the FFTEC single curve... Do you have a plot of boost vs. RPM?

PS. On the fuel pressure, you can either lean it out (can't see AFR curve in chart but might not be a good idea), or another option is to swap out the factory regulator and crank the pressure up to 80-90psi. Which should force more fuel through the small opening at the high pressure pump and allow it to support more power.

We were doing all initial testing at 11:1 (richer than typical) 18psi dialing in boost control, keeping timing ultra conservative. We're targeting 12:1 now 24-25psi without any noticeable change in timing corrections.

LPFP pressure actually seems to go up to 80-90 under full load and that side really doesn't seem to be an issue "pressure" wise. Tony's setup is a parallel one and the only thing I could suggest at this point experimentally is to add in a wider fuel line to carry more fuel to the HPFP. Regulator may also be a great idea to look into and test.

Originally Posted by fastgti69

x2, it just looks like a slightly delayed stock turbo n54 FBO. As it should be with a crazy powerband.

HPFP isn't holding targeted pressured. Injectors are said to support something very very large (2100cc mentioned by @dubversion who's talked to his friend that worked on the N54 fuel system design). Very unofficial obviously but its all we got right now.

Great stuff. Maybe now we can see a Stage 3 find the limits of this motor with transparent updates. Also, would love to see this on a properly upgraded DCT as well. Just need the "properly upgraded" bit to be available first.

Wow 2100cc, if that is the case then there is honestly no need for larger injectors. That can flow like 1000whp. I am guessing the HPFP is the issue. Any ideas of running Terrys bandaid hpfp that he made to see if that will help it keep the flow?

Another side note. I cannot say enough about what a pleasure it was to work with Dzenno and the PTF crew. From Jake staying on COBB to get me an AP. To COBB stepping up and supporting the project to D literally staying up with me tuning til 3 am his time, getting 4 hours sleep and doing his daily routine to do it again the next night because I run a business until 5 and could only get away usually after we shut down. The guy has literally never laid eyes on the car, never rode in it, never even heard it and he was just as excited if not more then me to tune. When we hit 572 today I called him just to deliver the good news as text was no longer good enough. The level of commitment they have to the platform is something I feel matches my own. I worked long nights and weekends to get this kit up and running as well as the stage 2's and now the the N55. Stay tuned everyone, were just getting started.

Except nobody wants to pay for a 15k 335i. All the ones that interest me anyway start around 25k-30k although I'm looking for a vert. But if you just want the platform regardless of miles or options, then I suppose you could find one in reasonable shape for around 17-20.

yeah guess thats true if you're lookin for fancier or newer ones like an msport or vert like you. I personally know people who have gotten extremely clean e90's with reasonable mileage for 15kish...this is only through auctions though. Of course regular buyers going to Carmax and dealers are going to get taxed haha. Regardless, this platform just took a little step up!